Cowboys “getting the lay of the land” with Ware and Austin

Posted by Josh Alper on February 19, 2014, 10:59 AM EDT

AP

There haven’t been any talks between defensive end DeMarcus Ware, who had surgery on his ailing elbow, and the Cowboys about a reducing his salary or otherwise restructuring his contract for the 2014 season and executive vice president Stephen Jones says the team’s still in evaluation mode regarding how to proceed with Ware.

The same is true of wide receiver Miles Austin, who is set to make $5.5 million next season and who many have speculated will be cut loose to help clear up much needed cap space in Dallas. Jones said the team would “have to take a look at” his case as well as Ware’s in the near future.

“We’re still gathering all of our information and getting the lay of the land,” Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News.

Jones said the team will “not necessarily” meet with agents for the two players at the combine, but the lay of the land is pretty clear. The Cowboys need to cut some of their obligations under the cap and these two players can provide a lot of it. That should create some urgency to move from information gathering to action sooner rather than later.

14 Responses to “Cowboys “getting the lay of the land” with Ware and Austin”

elliottcovert says:Feb 19, 2014 11:19 AM

I would axe both of them. Ware is an expensive aging player who didn’t produce last season (granted, it was at a new position and a new scheme) and Austin hasn’t been terribly impressive for a couple of years now.

Austin is clearly gone. They have his replacement in place already….but to only now being putting together a plan for retaining one of the best pass rushers in the history of the league leads me to believe that Jerruh is 1. lying or 2. clueless.

The hard part is either option is absolutely possible.

w2lucky says:Feb 19, 2014 12:25 PM

Any commitment to Austin is a huge gamble. Cut him and see what his glass hamstring’s really worth. As for Ware, he’s earned another season, but he’s not worth his contract. Slippery slope.

With Ware, it’s a bit more complex but I think in the end they have to move on because that guy already said he is not restructuring for a pay cut.

Can’t keep throwing good money at players who are past their prime.

lowesislander says:Feb 19, 2014 12:30 PM

Attn: Stephen Jones. A lot of us long-time Cowboys fans are also in evaluation mode regarding how to proceed with your team.

dccowboy says:Feb 19, 2014 12:45 PM

Not sure why Austin will be gone.

He has a $5.5million salary, $2.749mil cap charge for prorated bonus for a total of roughly $8.5 cap charge in 2014. If he is cut it creates $7.885 mil in ‘dead’ money, so if they cut him they ‘gain’ about $393,000 on this years cap. Even if they designate him a ‘June 1′ cut they will only realize around $4 million in cap savings this year while parking $4 mil in dead money on next years cap.

That doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of gain for getting rid of the player. I think they restructure his salary to bonus and realize about the same cap savings as cutting him and designating him a June 1 cut.

Ware is a different story. He has a $12.25mil salary and $3.253mil prorated bonus for a total cap charge of around $16mil. Cutting him would create $7.4mil cap space unless they also designate him a June 1 cut, then the savings would be around $11 million. Then again do you really want to get rid of Ware. They could restructure his salary into bonus and spread it over 4 years, realizing a cap gain of around $8 million in 2014 and would still have the player

Promised Land? Promised Land?? They would be lucky to get to Maybe Land!

jebsta16 says:Feb 19, 2014 2:10 PM

Ware could be that big signing the Packers need. He shouldn’t come with a huge price tag because of age and lack of production last season but the Packers can move him back to OLB where he belongs. This would be a dream come true.

Like them both for what they have done with the Cowboys, but both need to go. Austin cannot stay on the field at 100% and Ware is approaching that same territory.For all the talk about Romo choking? Ware has completely disappeared when we needed him most, I got so sick of seeing him chase around Eli in some huge games and whiffing every time.

I think June 1 cuts are bad for players and teams because they could have cut and been with a new team instead of being rushed to find a new team with training camp right around the corner. I wouldnt want ‘Dead money” at all!